Do we really want a new Fleetwood Mac album?

[Matt Lucas]

Hello all---

Originally Posted by michelej1

Stevie has been open about her displeasure with the SYW recording process for years. And I believe that she said that she couldn't understand why her demos sounded better than the finished product and that frustrated her.

Ah. Stevie has demo-itis. It’s a common affliction affecting songwriters and is diagnosed when the person becomes so attached to the sounds on a demo that he or she can’t ever really appreciate a proper studio recording of the same song because, “It just doesn’t sound as good as the demo.”

Sometimes a demo really captures that new energy that only comes when you’ve created a new song from essentially nothing, and it’s hard to reproduce that feeling when you’re in the studio doing 34 takes of a lead vocal. I’ve experienced it myself. So, I get that.

I’d like to hear some examples of Stevie demos that are better than the final, official studio recordings. The only one I’ve really heard is “Thrown Down,” and I have to say that the studio version sounds fantastic. The demos aren’t bad, but the studio version is just way better. I will be the first to admit that Stevie’s songs are very uneven on SAY YOU WILL. The good ones are VERY good…the bad ones are horrible. [In fact, the same could be said for Lindsey’s songs on that record.] Even though I’m a bigger fan of Lindsey, I have to admit that “Thrown Down” and “Say You Will” are probably my two favorite songs on that album [followed closely by “Steal Your Heart Away” and “Bleed to Love Her”]. They are just great song…very well-written and well-produced.

As for the change in the band’s sound and Lindsey’s production over the years…

I’m no expert on Stevie’s voice, so I don’t feel qualified to comment on that one.

Personally, I think part of the change in style over the years, particularly since RUMOURS, is the fact that Lindsey discovered the Rick Turner guitar and stopped using “real” guitars as much. I remember reading interviews with him around the time of OUT OF THE CRADLE, and he talked about how, in the studio, he still used other guitars like a Telecaster [I think one of those instrumental introductions was actually recorded on a Telecaster]. To my ears, that’s part of the reason that album sounded so good. Since then, I don’t think I’ve seen a single photo of him with anything other than the Turner guitar or one other acoustic guitar, and I haven’t read a single interview in which he talked about using a Fender or a Gibson.

Has he used a Gibson since the RUMOURS days? Those solos just burn, you know? I realize he loves the Turner guitar, presumably because it lets him switch back and forth between electric and acoustic sounds easily. But I don’t think the tone is great for studio recordings. That’s just me.

I think Lanois or Brion could make a fantastic-sounding FM record. The main point is that either guy has worked in a variety of settings and styles. Lanois is known for getting fantastic drum and bass sounds, and his vocal productions always have a really unusually clear, “in your face” quality to them, like the singer is sitting right there in the room with you as you listen.

Brion, on the other hand, gets great sounds, too. But less processed. For the record, he is a very gifted keyboardist, too.

Either of those guys---or Froom, should he get the call---is experienced enough to know what to do once the whole band is there. They will figure out quickly that Mick, John, and Christine are a three-headed rhythm monster.

matt